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Aerith's eyes carefully tracked Cloud's quiet amazement as he walked closer to the largest patch of flowers that grew in her church. She bit her lip to keep from crying.
But it was a struggle because there was something truly beautiful in seeing the nearly serene, almost blissful expression on the blond's face as he carefully knelt in front of the flowers and ran a gentle, nearly reverential finger so gingerly across the joyfully swaying blossoms. The blond's blue eyes sparked with childish wonderment and a small smile settled on his lips.
For Aerith, it was confirmation. Seeing Cloud filled with life for even a brief moment was enough for her to see just how breathtaking he could truly be.
Aerith resolved to not give up on him.
Oh, she knew she had just met him, but she did not need to be of Cetra descent to see that the blond was extraordinary. Aerith pasted on her most cheerful expression and bounced towards the blond, sinking down next to him on his non-damaged arm's side. "See?" She chirped sunnily as she gently clasped his wrist when he went to jerk it away in surprise. Aerith gently pried his fingers loose and returned them to her flowers, keeping her eyes on her task and giving the blond some semblance of privacy.
"They're beautiful." Cloud offered after a few moments of silence, broken only by Aerith's soft humming as she gently moved Cloud's hands down to the soft soil and only let go once he twisted his fingers into the still slightly damp earth.
"Thank you!" Aerith gushed as she started fussing with the soil and smiling in victory when the blond began to hesitantly follow suit. "I don't know why, but even though everyone says Midgar can't grow grass, my flowers always grow just fine!" She huffed and scooted forward a bit. "Do you have a favorite flower, Cloud?"
Aerith wanted to hold her breath when the blond stiffened and retreated into himself. However she just hummed a tune she remembered hearing somewhere and listened to the whispers of the Planet as she let the blond work through things at his own pace. She was a little disappointed when he merely went back to work without a word, but the fact that he had not left was heartening. So Aerith allowed enough time to pass to let him re-center himself and began to chatter about her flowers and the types she wished she could grow and how she wished she could take out some of the pews and maybe plant some fruit or even a tree! The ceilings were certainly high enough to hold a tree comfortably!
Cloud didn't do more than make small noises of acknowledgement, but he stayed.
For now, that was enough.
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Aerith had needed stalk Cloud a little at first, but by the time a month had gone by he had mostly gotten the picture that if he did not come see her she would find him. Not only would she find him, she would find him, 'invite' him to dinner, and then proceed to drag him to the church with her for the next few hours.
Cloud never did more than passively sit there and work the soil once she took his hand and pushed his fingers into the soil. Yet as time went by his tiny smile appeared a few more times and his noncommittal hums became lengthier noises.
Once that became rather routine, Aerith moved to the next phase of her master plan- tugging gently on his blond bangs until he made eye contact with her. Eye contact seemed to make him vaguely terrified and slightly panicky, but she would just give him her most effusive smile and giggle before going back to the flowers.
His endearing confused expression was just a bonus. Seriously, the guy was far too cute for Aerith's inner fangirl to handle sometimes. And he was sweet. Not in a contrived way or with some sort of sneaky agenda, Cloud was just uncommonly kind to everyone.
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Well, except aggressive monsters and assholes, Aerith amusedly mentally amended two weeks into month two after she had adopted Cloud.
Aerith and Cloud had been on the way to the church that evening when a gang of guys had apparently marked them as easy targets and had surrounded them. Aerith had her staff out in an instant, but Cloud had only calmly unclipped his toolbox, letting it clatter to the asphalt and stood there with a frighteningly blank expression.
When the group had decided to press their luck Aerith had readied herself, but then Cloud had moved.
The blond didn't have the grace of Angeal's trained movement or the fluidity of Zack's, but what he lacked in finesse he made up for in sheer speed and dauntless determination.
Aerith hadn't even gotten to whack any of the six with her staff before they were all on the ground, slightly bleeding, no doubt bruised, and definitely humbled. They quickly picked up their unconscious or possibly dead comrades and slinked away.
Cloud had stumbled over to his toolbox and flinched violently when a door slammed loudly somewhere down the street.
The broken, lost, scared look he gave her when she tugged on his bangs had nearly broken her heart all over again. "Good job!" She chirped brightly, faltering slightly when his expression grew stormy.
"I should go." Cloud mumbled, his breaths coming in pants and his limbs beginning to tremble as he clumsily reattached his toolbox to his belt.
"Cloud." Aerith said calmly, injecting as much serenity as she could muster into her voice as she knelt down and looked at his downcast, terrified face. "Cloud." She tried again, resisting the urge to hug him silly and taking a deep breath before she began to chatter. "We're a block from the church." She began in a gentle, even voice. "I've been trying to talk you into helping me take out the left row of pews and making another flower bed! I think we're going to need to go get another thing of water tonight if I manage to talk you into it, though…"
Slowly, ever so slowly, Cloud began to calm down. The shaking slowly stopped and his eyes lost the frightening haze that had fallen over them. His shirt was slicked with sweat but his breathing smoothed and about ten minutes later Cloud was looking at her in confusion.
Aerith smiled brightly. "Welcome back!"
Cloud swallowed harshly and blinked rapidly before he looked down and began to struggle to his feet. "I should go."
"Hey! You can't go! We have shenanigans to pull!"
Cloud, who had turned away from her, looked over his shoulder with a confused expression. "But-"
Aerith planted her hands on her hips and leaned forward a bit. "You and me, Cloudy. We're a team! A duo! I cannot perform shenanigans by myself, mister! You're committed!"
"Um." Cloud's expression cycled through more emotions than Aerith could keep up with, but she kept her own expression open and eventually the tension in his shoulders relaxed a bit and he turned back towards her. "Aerith, I almost hurt you. I'm pretty sure I killed at least one of them!" The blond's voice raised and his expression grew haunted.
It was the most she had heard him say since the day he had fixed her cart.
"No, you didn't." She stepped forward and let her hand hover above his chest, her eyes silently asking for permission to touch him. Slowly his good hand came up and pushed her hand to his chest, the expression on his face threatening to break her resolve entirely.
Who would ever hurt someone as kind as Cloud badly enough that he would be so confused by the simplest kindness? Aerith thought sadly as she smiled softly at her friend. "You had a moment, there, but I was never in any danger. You kept me safe, Cloud. It's ok."
"I kept you…safe?" Cloud repeated perplexedly, his blond brows contracting in confusion as if he could not even fathom such a thing happening.
"Of course!" She pressed her palm a bit firmer to his chest and gave him her most earnest stare. "You're my friend, Cloud. You're never gonna get rid of me, now! Not even if you try to hide in the Honeybee Inn as a working girl!" Aerith bounced a bit and tipped up onto her toes to gently lay a kiss on the stunned man's cheek. "Everybody needs help sometimes, Cloud. You won't fight alone. Not with me here." She fixed him with a foreboding glare. "And if you try to run I'll just pitch a tent in the church and sit on you until you promise to stay!" She grinned impishly and tugged him forward lightly by the cloth of his shirt. "Hey! As a bonus, maybe you could get the shower and stuff working there! Then it could really be your home away from home!"
Cloud was silent the entire way to the church, but that was fine.
Aerith was never going to give up on him. Not when she had seen glimpses of who he could be and how utterly breathtaking he was when he was happy.
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Feel free to leave me a note on your way out~!
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